With July rains above normal in most parts of the country, the pace of sowing -- especially paddy which was lagging till last week -- has picked up.

The water level in major reservoirs is also rising, improving the prospects of hydroelectric power generation and irrigation after the monsoon.

The total water availability in the 70 major reservoirs climbed 3 per cent in the past week.

The India Meteorological Department estimates current monsoon rainfall -- between June 1 and July 16 -- at 341.1 mm, about 8 per cent higher than this period's normal precipitation of 315.8 mm.

The total countrywide rainfall during the week ending July 16 was 15 per cent above normal.

Of the 36 meteorological sub-divisions in the country 31 have received normal or above normal rain. The five sub-divisions that fall in the deficient category also received adequate rain.

The areas of concern -- a few districts of Chhattisgarh and north-interior Karnataka -- received good showers between July 14 and July 16 and again around July 20, improving the soil moisture.

Thanks to the good rainfall in the catchment areas, recharging of all the major reservoirs has begun.

According to the Central Water Commission, which monitors the water level in 70 reservoirs, the total water storage rose to 24.4 billion cubic metres on July 18 from 20.95 billion cubic metres a week ago.

This is 110 per cent of the last year's corresponding position and 61 per cent of the last 10 years' average.

The number of reservoirs reporting no usable water has shrunk to seven from last week's 10. Those that came out of this bracket are the Sabarmati reservoir in Gujarat, the Kabini reservoir in Karnataka and the Mahi Bajaj Sagar reservoir in Rajasthan.

Those that still have no usable water, include the Aliyar reservoir in Tamil Nadu, the Sriramsagar and Somasila reservoirs in Andhra Pradesh, the Gandhisagar reservoir in Madhya Pradesh, the Bhima and Jayakwadi reservoirs in Maharashtra and the Balimela reservoir in Orissa.

According to information received by the agriculture ministry from the states, paddy sowing is almost over in Punjab, Haryana and parts of Uttar Pradesh.

It is progressing well in all other areas. Till July 21, 11.4 million hectares had been covered under the crop. This is 700,000 hectares more than that last season's corresponding coverage.

The planting of coarse cereals, mainly the rain-fed crops maize, bajra and jowar, is also way ahead of the last season with about 11.6 million hectares having already been covered, against 9.6 million hectares last year.

Among the oilseeds, soyabean planting is reported to have been completed in 1 million hectares more than last year.

The total sown area so far is 5.4 million hectares and, considering the pace of sowing, the figure is expected to exceed 6.3 million hectares by the end of the season. Groundnut coverage is almost the same as last season's 3 million hectares.

The pace of sowing of pulses, too, is far higher this year with over 5.3 million hectares having been planted against last year's 3.9 million hectares. Cotton has been seeded in over 4.9 million hectares this year, against 3.8 million hectares last year.